Photo by Scott McCloskey An excavator operator removes debris from the side of a stream along North Fork Road in Ohio County Wednesday morning as truck drivers wait for water to recede near the entrance to the Short Creek landfill.

Click here for a photo gallery of Ida’s aftermath in the Ohio Valley.

WHEELING — Despite a lengthy rainfall from the remnants of Hurricane Ida early Wednesday, Wheeling and outlying areas of Ohio County escaped without any major flooding problems, according to city and county officials.

Lou Vargo, director of the Wheeling-Ohio County Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency, said despite water backing up onto parts of North Fork Road near West Liberty and a slight hillside slip occurring along Girtys Point Road near the Ohio County Airport, no other major problems were reported to his office.

“I haven’t had any other calls other than those two. It’s been relatively quiet,” Vargo commented.

The rains from what was Ida rolled into the Ohio Valley before daylight and stuck around through the early afternoon.

Plenty of streams and creeks swelled as the rains continued, but Vargo said that, other than the run along North Fork Road, his office didn’t receive any reports of streams out of their banks.

Trucks lined up waiting to get in and out of the Short Creek landfill area for several hours Tuesday morning as water flowed swiftly over a low lying bridge at the entrance to the facility.

Once water began to recede from North Fork Road, an excavator operator began to remove debris from the one side of the stream and bridge.

“What happens is the bridge at the North Fork landfill is very low,” Vargo explained. He said when there is a heavy rainfall debris gets caught beneath the bridge, causing water to back up onto the road at that location.

Vargo said some good news his office received Wednesday afternoon from the National Weather Service’s River Forecast Center is that the Ohio River crest predictions dropped a few feet from Tuesday’s prediction of 31.8 feet. He said as of Wednesday afternoon the river is expected to crest Thursday afternoon at 28.7 feet.

“So that’s good news for the city,” Vargo said.

City of Wheeling Public Works Director Russell “Rusty” Jebbia said everything went smoothly with the operations department Wednesday. He said despite a few areas in the city where crews had to clear more debris that blocked storm sewer inlets from the overnight rainfall, things went pretty smooth and no serious flooding or problems were reported in the city.

“It was a steady rain, but it wasn’t a torrential downpour or anything like that … as of right now everything seems to be going pretty well,” Jebbia explained.

In Marshall County, part of McMechen was underwater Wednesday afternoon, at the southern end of town between 21st Street and Ember’s Bar and Lounge. Muddy water bubbled up from an open manhole in the road, flowing down the slight incline into a storm sewer. At its deepest, water rose from the road to meet the sidewalk, blocked by sandbags and the lay of the land.

Elsewhere in the county, Director of Emergency Management Tom Hart reported few problems, aside from some minor road flooding and tree branches down overnight. However, these issues did not lead to road closures.

“We just had some minor roadway flooding; no major issues to report,” he said. “There were some trees that came down overnight, but that’s pretty much it. All the flood watches, warnings and advisories had been canceled.

“Nothing was closed, there were a couple roadways with some water on them, but nothing major.”

In Ohio, Becky Horne, executive administrative assistant of the Belmont County EMA, said numerous areas that often experience flooding incurred minor flooding on roadways including in areas in St. Clairsville, Barton, Bellaire and Bridgeport. She said some roadways were temporarily closed but have since opened back up to traffic including Jug Run Road, north of St. Clairsville; Troff Run Road in Pultney Township; Church Street in Barton; and Boyd Road in Bridgeport.

Horne said other than the minor flooding on roads, there were no injuries or reports of structure flooding or damage in the county. She said most of the water subsided as quickly as it began.

Steady rainfall over the last few days filled area creeks and covered roadways, causing various property damage, hindering traffic and causing some schools and government offices to be closed.

In Brooke County, a fallen tree and high water covered areas of state Route 67 between Shadow Bend and Hukill Run, causing it to be closed through much of Wednesday. Similar conditions also resulted in the closing of Pierce Run Road, roads off Cross Creek Road and other area roadways. Pot Rock Road remained closed Wednesday night.

Numerous impassable roads led to Brooke County and Buckeye Local schools being closed, with students from the latter district being sent home after they arrived. Buckeye Local school officials also were contending with flooding at the high school.

Located near Cross Creek, the practice soccer fields at Brooke High School were again submerged in water. Offices and courts at the Brooke County Courthouse were closed because many staff members weren’t able to report.

And safety concerns led Bethany College officials to encourage staff and commuting students not to report Wednesday morning. A student parking lot near the college’s Robert J. Byrd Wellness Center was filled with water.

Reporters Alan Olson, Carri Graham and Warren Scott contributed to this report.